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http://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/www.wise-qatar.org--e1432143211510.png264443Joerihttp://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lid.jpgJoeri2015-05-20 17:26:552015-05-20 17:31:56LiD in the media

Capitol Hill Elementary, Burnaby

“Yes, it’s LiD day!” is the most common thing I hear when greeting my students on Friday mornings.

This fall I implemented the Learning in Depth program with my classroom of high ability learners (part of Burnaby’s Multi-age Cluster Classroom pilot program for gifted/high ability children in grades 4 and 5). My intention was to maintain and sustain the love of learning the majority of my students have. But, of course, some questions lingered. Would the students feel engaged with the topics? Would they see the interconnections that LiD provides? Could LiD help in building community with students who travel from all across the school district for this specialized program? The answer to the above questions is a resounding, deafening “YES”.

Our introduction to LiD was delivered with a visual provocation. The students watched a short video of the wonders of the world around us, landforms, insects, animals, technology, history, and environmentalism were briefly shown in short 6-second videos. Parents and students listened to a brief description of the LiD program and all adults present, including administrators, teachers and parents pledged to support the students along the journey. A short celebration ended the day and involved a small snack and pictures.

Quotes on LiD from our students

“ I like my topic because I like to cook and it is fun because I am learning about stuff that I didn’t know.”

“I think LiD is about starting on one thing and learning more and more about it, going deeper and deeper.”

“I like LiD because it lets you learn lots about a subject.”

“I like LiD because I find it interesting because you get to decide what you do.”

“I love my topic because it is totally me.”

“LiD is a topic that you master.”

“LiD is my favourite subject in school.”

http://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/St-Alcuin-College.jpeg480640Joerihttp://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lid.jpgJoeri2014-12-01 18:18:392014-12-01 18:18:39St Alcuin College in North Vancouver wants to be a LiD school

“It’s what students do with what they learn when they can do what they want to do that is the real measure of educational achievement.” (Eisner, 2001)

As an IE educator, this quote by Elliot Eisner has stuck with me and is my driving force.

I ventured upon implementing Learning in Depth (LiD) in my grade 2 French Immersion classroom last year. It was a challenge to say the least, but I believe that anything worth doing will present challenges and, in all honesty, is there any avenue of effective teaching that is challenge-free?

I noticed very early on that, despite the challenges an additional language and early-literacy stages presented, the students in my class enthusiastically took on their LiD topics and quickly made them their own. There were Lego castles and Lego pirate ships coming to class which the students had made on their own time with no requests on my part. When presenting speeches, objects that were brought in were connected to their LiD topics. When we were at the Children’s Festival, students waited extra time in line, just so they could have the costume that represented their topics, got henna tattoos connected to their topics, molded clay representations of their topics, explained that they just saw something which was connected to another child’s topic, and were sharing facts out of the blue with me regarding their topics.

The epitome of it all involved two students near the end of the school year. One little girl, let’s call her Lisa, came to school one day having spent the weekend working on drawing and creating a flag that represented her topic of birds. In Social Studies, we had been learning about Canada and how particular symbols and colors can represent its different features. Lisa used symbols and colors effectively and appropriately in creating a flag to represent birds. She took her learning from one area of schooling and applied it to another (her LiD topic) by her own initiative and in her own time.

Jacob’s topic was bees. One day, his father caught up to me in the school parking lot and asked if I had a moment. I was in a hurry, but, of course, said, “Yes.” He proceeded to show me a little video Jacob had taken using his dad’s phone of a little bee in their yard on Thanksgiving weekend. He narrated it and here are some of the comments he made in his narration:

“I found this bee, my topic. He could be dead, or he could be alive. You can see the pollen on his legs. He’s cool, isn’t he? It’s [the date]…………on Thanksgiving day, I find a bee …….. my topic.” Again, this precious video clip was filmed by Jacob in his own time and of his own initiative.

LiD has provided an avenue by which my students take ownership of, make connections with and are emotionally engaged and excited about their learning. It’s the fact that they took these elements outside the four walls of the classroom that is true cause for celebration.

Kavita Hoonjan

http://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Kavita-H.jpg546410Joerihttp://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lid.jpgJoeri2014-11-09 05:27:312014-11-09 05:27:31LiD in a grade 2 French Immersion classroom

At KB Woodward Elementary we began LiD in 2011/2012 with 1 class taking the challenge. During the 2012/2013 School Year we had 3 classes working on LiD. During the 2013/14 school year we had 7 classes participating in LiD. Each class had weekly research time with their teacher. We also met twice a month in the gym as a whole group to show off and share our discoveries. It was an amazing experience for everyone involved. This year more teachers are on board and KB Woodward now has 11 classes, grades 1-7 participating in LiD. We are all so excited.

David Futter is piloting a student engagement program based around LID, supported by his School Board in Victoria, B.C. Canada. Last year several disengaged students at his school all told the principal that the only thing they liked the previous year was LID. He designed a program based on one student’s LiD topic in such a way that it covered all the mandated core areas. This year he will have two afternoons a week to work with 4-6 students to establish and monitor a LID program as their main program of study. Look for a future report on how the program goes. Good luck, David!

http://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/David-Futter.png100150Joerihttp://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lid.jpgJoeri2014-08-27 18:15:432014-10-19 21:07:11David Futter and new LiD program

2014 has been a great year for LiD so far, as it spreads increasingly around the galaxy, becoming a staple of the curriculum in more and more schools. Since our last Newsletter, we have had additional schools take on the program in Chile, England, Australia, Ireland, U.S.A. and Canada, and no doubt other places we have not yet heard from.

A new school has begun LiD in London, UK. So far we have heard from only a small number of UK schools implementing LiD. Marc Shoffren, the headmaster of Alma Primary School has written about the launch of LiD in his school in his blog, which he has kindly allowed us to use here. Marc is keen to be in touch with other schools in the UK which have taken on the program. If you are one of those, please do contact him: head@almaprimary.org.

http://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Uk-school.png336893Joerihttp://ierg.ca/LID/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/lid.jpgJoeri2014-07-21 13:52:202014-10-19 21:08:11LiD in the UK – June 2014

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The Learning in Depth Program is a program of the Centre for Imaginative Education in the Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada V5A 1S6.